A/N: Hello, lovely readers. I wanted to wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day. Sorry if this is a little late. I started it at two this morning.

And now that it's nearly dinner time, I'm gonna post this. It was supposed to just be a one-shot, but I think I'll add another chapter to this. Maybe.

Crave Your Silence

"It's not my fault you could never get me off."

The words of Fairy Tail's Celestial mage burned in the back of Cobra's mind. He knew for a fact that she'd been married for three years, and that her divorce with Gray had ripped her team apart. The Ice Make mage had left the guild, claiming he just needed to be away from them. Apparently, all that time he'd sworn that Juvia didn't do a thing for him was just some really fucked up foreplay.

And for some reason, it had been Cobra, Fairy Tail's newest member (and officially recognized by the Magic Council as not a fucking criminal anymore, thank you very much), that had told Lucy just what was happening behind her back.

He hadn't been able to explain it. Why it mattered. Why he even cared enough to point it out. Except maybe it was that sad little music box in her soul with a warbling, off-key tune that belonged in a damn horror movie, that made him pity her. And Cobra didn't pity people. Ever.

Pity required giving a modicum of shits, and he had none to give.

But he'd still dragged her to the training grounds on his first day in the fucking building, right after getting his guild mark on his hip from Laxus, and laid it all out for her.

"Your husband's cheating on you with…" He paused, listening to Gray's soul and matching it with the Water Woman in the building who even thought in third fucking person. "Juvia."

"Yeah, right," Lucy snorted. "Real funny, Cobra."

"I'm not lying to you."

"Look, I'm glad you've helped take out dark guilds with Crime Sorciere," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "And you've more than proven that you're an ally we can trust, so I have no problems with you joining the guild."

"I know that," he said. She missed the flash of guilt in his single eye as he remembered just how much pain he'd caused her so long ago.

"But I also know that, even though you're not trying to kill people anymore, you're a prankster."

"Says fucking who?" he snarled.

"Natsu and the Glitter Bombs of X794," she frowned. "That was my apartment you confettied with that bullshit. And I know it was you because you sat in the window and took pictures."

"... Shut up." Okay, so maybe he'd wanted to ruin the Fire Slayer's day two years ago. And glitter had been on sale at the store.

"The point is, Gray's not cheating on me. He wouldn't do that."

Lucy tried to walk away from him that day, scowling and not wanting to believe him. She'd been so sure that he was just lying to her.

Except then Cobra heard something else, and he shot forward, setting a hand over her mouth and dragging her backwards under the bleachers. She kicked and struggled in his grasp even harder when the doors to the guild opened. "Don't believe me?" he whispered in her ear. "Look who we have here."

Gray and Juvia dashed outside, their hands clasped together and both mages looking one way and another to make sure no one could see them. Gray paused and brushed his lips against the Water mage's, then pulled her along, grinning at the bright flush on her cheeks. They ran across the clearing, sticking to the shadows when they could, and Lucy could hear Juvia's laughter once they'd made it into the treeline of the nearby forest.

The fight in her died, her limbs falling heavily at her sides. There were no tears on her lashes though, just wide, disbelieving eyes and her mouth pressed into a thin line once his hand pulled away.

He'd come to realize that Lucy was a bit of an enigma at times. Her soul tended to go deathly quiet before bellowing with enough force to blow out even Zeref's cursed eardrums with her rage. So, Cobra had opted for self-preservation when her heard the music box decrescendo in her soul, and he took a large step back from her.

"Why do you care?" she asked him, still looking at the forest her husband had run to.

"I don't," he said.

"Then why would you tell me?"

"Seems kinda fucked up," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring at the worn leather of his boots, "Here you are, giving him everything, and he's off fucking someone else."

"Well, if you're saying it's fucked up, then it must be," Lucy said.

Her words cut him to the quick as she walked away. Just that one sentence, when he shouldn't have fucking cared in the slightest, made him feel like a piece of shit. Like he was lower than Gray, the cheating fuck. But maybe that's what the issue was. Cobra hated cheaters with a passion. He hated liars. People who couldn't just be honest were fucking pathetic. He may have been evil at one point - okay, so for a large chunk of his life - but he'd never fucking lied about it. He was brutally honest. Always had been.

Lucy paused with her back still facing the Poison Slayer. "Cobra?"

His head tilted to one side, a slow grin curling his lips when he heard her soul again. "Oh, you can count on me," he chuckled. "Two minutes, tops."

"You stay inside."

He snorted, leaving the blonde beneath the bleachers as he walked into the guild once again. Like he was going to put his ass on the line and let people know he'd helped her figure out Gray was cheating on her. "Mira," he said, stopping at the bar.

"Yes, Cobra?"

"Lucy asked me to tell you, she needs a camera," he said with a wicked grin. "She's under the bleachers."

"Oh my god, did you kill her?" Mira laughed. "That's what murderers say."

"No, she's very much alive," he chuckled. "And I think you're going to… enjoy… helping her out with something."

It wasn't until a few hours later that Mira came back inside, dragging Gray and Juvia by the ears while they clutched their clothes to their chests. Lucy came forward from her seat at the bar, holding the pictures she'd secretly taken in her hands.

"What the hell, Ice Prick?" Natsu shouted, standing at a table across the guild with his hands aflame.

"L-Lucy, it's not what it looks like," Gray said quickly as their guildmates stared in shock at Juvia trying to pull the rest of her clothes back on.

"Oh," Lucy smiled. She picked one picture and shoved it into his mouth as soon as it opened for him to speak, pushing back so he choked on the glossy paper. "Are you sure, Gray? Because these pictures look like you were fucking someone that wasn't your wife."

Gray spit the picture out, unwadding it and staring in horror at the image. "Wh-What?"

"This one too," Lucy said, turning another toward Juvia. "But, you can have him." She turned back to Gray. "I want a divorce."

Gray watched as she tossed the pictures on the floor and started to leave the guild, and Cobra lifted a brow when he heard the Ice Make mage's suddenly angry thoughts just before they came spilling out of his mouth.

"Yeah, well at least Juvia's not an uptight bitch, Lucy!"

The blonde paused, her soul going quiet again. She didn't look at Gray over her shoulder, didn't spare him any extra energy or attention. "It's not my fault you could never get me off," she said. That was it. Once the words were out, she was walking toward the door again, cutting through the still, silent guild.

And that had been months ago.

Now, as Cobra sat in his apartment, glaring a hole in the ceiling and thinking about what Lucy had said, it made him curious. Gray really must have just been that bad at sex. But, if that was the case, then why had he heard the smallest ripple of insecurity in Lucy when she'd said it? Maybe it was something else entirely. He knew for a fact that he had no issues getting Juvia off - the thoughts from the guy about her squirting every time she came were fucking disgusting. Cobra really didn't want to hear that shit.

Either way, it's not like it was any of his damn business. And he really didn't even care all that much. He was just bored.

Her divorce was finalized, and the blonde was dragged out and about through town to clubs and bars and pubs by every woman in Fairy Tail, all of them telling her to just get out there and find a new man. Preferably, as Cana had put it, one who could actually make her cum.

He'd listened to her lamenting for weeks as she was pulled, unwillingly, past his apartment building on an almost nightly basis. Just like she was doing that night, still a block away with Cana and Erza tag-teaming her and not letting her wriggle free of their hold.

She apparently had no interest in going to a strip club doing some ridiculous Magic Mike Homage. Cobra didn't blame her on that one. It sounded stupid as hell.

Just the same, he walked over to the window and opened it wide, settling himself in the cushioned window seat - he was sucker for window seats, he'd come to realize - and resting his chin in his palm, the elbow sitting on the sill. And then he waited. One benefit of being on the second floor was that he could see her coming a little more easily. And she wouldn't be aware of him watching her unless he made his presence known.

Which he did every single time she was dragged past his apartment. Just to really lay it on that she was so lucky to have such caring friends. She glared at him every time he did it, and it only made him laugh.

His grin stayed in place, a malicious little curl to his lips, when he saw the trio getting closer. And once they got to the far edge of his apartment building he paused to take in how Lucy looked all dressed up. He wasn't blind. The woman was beautiful. She'd aged a little more in the past couple years, losing a little of that youthful pudge in her cheeks. Her body was the same, but she just looked more like a woman than a teenager trying to be a woman.

His lips parted, more than ready to call out to his guildmates hanging all over Lucy to keep her moving. And then he heard something completely different from the blonde. How uncomfortable she was really wasn't anything new. It was more the reason she was uncomfortable that caught his attention.

'Is it so bad that I don't want to be touched?! God, just let GO already!'

And Cobra, for all he'd enjoyed teasing the blonde in the time he'd been a part of Fairy Tail - okay, even before then, when he and Crime Sorciere had stopped by on occasion - understood that better than most people.

His smile faded and he took in the grimace pulling at her lips, the nervous twitch between her brows. And then he heard a little more. Past the fact that Cana and Erza had their arms draped across her waist and shoulders. It stemmed from the fact that they'd dressed her in the first place. And that both women had been a little on the grabby side. Her breasts, her ass, her legs. It all made Lucy insanely uncomfortable, not because they were women and she wasn't attracted to them. Simply because she didn't want anyone touching her there.

They were nearly below his window when he finally called out to the trio, all the humor having left his face. "Hey!"

"Hey, Cobra!" Cana called out, pulling the others to a stop. "Come on out with us. We're gonna get Lucy laid!"

'I don't want to get laid! God, it was a chore just sleeping with Gray!'

Now that was just sad. Flashes of memories from the blonde came rushing through her soul. Of her and Gray on their wedding night and how weird it had been to lose her virginity when he was so clearly enjoying himself. The times he'd teased her with sensual touches and how she'd moaned and been only slightly aroused by it but never really got into it even though she loved him. That she was sexually attracted to him, but he'd just never made her lose herself in ecstasy like so many others talked about.

"No," he said with a roll of his eye. "And I'm pretty sure she's not all that interested in it either."

Cana laughed, shaking her head. "Sure she is! Lu needs some good dick so she can get off!"

'My fingers do it just fine!'

"Yes," Erza said with a firm nod, "Lucy needs to get out and forget about… him."

'I wasn't even thinking about him until you guys showed up and shoved my failed marriage down my throat!'

Cobra met Lucy's gaze, his eye softening with understanding. She just wanted to be left alone, not to mope or mourn her relationship - because even he could tell that she was over it - but because Lucy just wasn't interested in it anymore.

"Come on, Lucy," Erza said, tightening her hold on the blonde's shoulders. "Let's have a great time tonight."

They started to walk away, then his lips pursed with anger. He hid it easily and called out to the women one more time. "Lucy, come spend some time with me."

They stopped, all three turning to stare at him with matching shocked expressions. "Wh-What?" the blonde whispered, knowing he heard by the small smirk he sent her way.

"Come on," he crooned, his hand sliding from beneath his chin to beckon her closer. "I've got candy."

"Now you sound like a rapist," Cana snorted. "Come get in my van, kiddies!"

Cobra grinned when the women started dragging her away again. "Well, my offer stands," he called out. "Candy and sweatpants. It's a fucking blast!" He didn't miss the embarrassed flush on her cheeks just before she turned away from him and let the women drag her away, or the confusion fluttering in her soul about why he would be interested in spending time with her in the first place.

He wasn't, really. He just didn't like the thought of her being forced to do something when she was so clearly against it. When he knew she'd voiced her opinion only to have it ignored.

He sat at the window for another few minutes before closing it and returning to his couch. He laid back down, sent his gaze toward the ceiling, then reached over to the table to grab a fun-sized chocolate bar. He really hadn't been lying about the candy.

Lucy blinked in surprise as Laki and Mira dragged her down the street toward a club, staring up at Cobra as he watched them from his window.

"Come spend some time with me," he said with a smirk, taking a bite of bright purple taffy. "It'll be better than anything they've got planned for you."

"No, thank you, Cobra," Mira smiled back. She didn't know that he'd done it every time Lucy passed his apartment against her will, and had been for the past month, ever since that first night he'd really listened to her soul. "We're going to enjoy a girl's night."

"I was talking to Lucy," he called back. "My offer still stands!"

He really enjoyed the way Lucy blushed while pulling away from Bisca and Levy to catch the fun-sized Butterfinger he tossed down to her. "I promise, it's not poisoned," he chuckled.

"Why are you throwing Lucy candy?" Levy asked, smiling and shaking her head.

"Because she wants something sweet," he shrugged, never looking away from the blonde who fought to hide her smile. Four months, he'd been inviting her over to get her away from her friends who were "trying to help" and she'd yet to accept the invitation.

He watched her lift the flap to open the candy as they walked away, smiling when he heard her soul sputter at the message he'd written on the underside.

"I understand."

What he wanted to write, that he understood wanting to be alone and her aversion to touch and so much more, wouldn't fit on that small candy. He'd need a king size for that, and that… He wasn't throwing a conspicuous fucking king-sized candy bar out the window just for her to read a note.

When Lucy turned to look at him over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed and her brow pinched with curiosity, Cobra simply smiled at her and took another bite of his Snickers.

Lucy bit her lip while staring at the candy wrapper she'd gotten two months before.

"I understand."

She'd been taken past Cobra's apartment seven more times since then, and he was always sitting at the window, watching her, and eating fucking candy. He sure had one hell of a sweet tooth. But it was yet another day that she was going to get dragged out of her cozy apartment, and she dreaded it even more when she thought about just what day it was.

Valentine's Day.

It was supposed to be a day of romance and love, and all she could think about was that it was two days after the one year anniversary of her finding out Gray was cheating on her.

All the single women in the guild were going out together. But Lucy didn't want to be with them. She wanted to stay away from them for a change. So, the blonde did what she really knew she shouldn't be doing. She packed her duffel with a sports bra, sweatpants, spare panties and a tank top. Her travel bag of toiletries, just in case. Then three bags of Valentine's candy she hadn't been able to justify buying the day before.

She heard them as they came up the stairs, and Lucy bit her lip while slinging the strap over her shoulder. Her boots were already on, her keys in place at her hip.

There was a knock at her door and Lucy ignored it in favor of shimmying out of her window and hopping down to the street below. She could hear Erza unlocking the door and didn't waste any time.

Lucy ran down the street as quickly as she could, not wanting to be caught and forced to endure another night of men leering at her, dancing with people she had no interest in but didn't have the heart to turn down.

She saw his window was open, and found herself laughing as Cobra's head popped out and she saw the white stick of a lollipop disappearing behind his suddenly grinning lips. "What number?" she panted.

"No time," he chuckled. "Grab that whip of yours and I'll pull you up."

"Wh-What?!"

"Do you wanna get caught?"

Lucy stopped beneath the window, staring up at his seemingly bored indigo eye. Her hand drifted toward her hip when she heard her name being called from down the street, a feminine voice searching for her. She activated the whip, sending the watery blue weapon up to Cobra's outstretched hand.

"Hold on tight," he said. At Lucy's nod, hearing she was ready as she gripped the whip, he pulled and pulled until she was scrambling in through the window. Her feet disappeared inside just as he heard Erza jogging down the street.

"Cobra!" the redhead shouted, standing beneath his window.

He stuck his head back out, still sucking on his cherry lollipop. "What do you want?" he scowled.

"Have you seen Lucy? Or heard where she was going?"

"Maybe she took a job," he shrugged. "I'm not her damn keeper."

"Mira said she didn't sign Lucy out for any jobs today. Neither did Kinana or Master. She's missing!"

"Maybe she's out of town."

"We would have known-"

"Y'know," he smirked, "I think I heard her earlier. Going to the train station. Something about how she needed to buy some flowers."

"Where was she going?" Erza demanded with a frown.

"Her parents' graves." He didn't react in the slightest when Lucy punched him in the thigh from where she was crouching on the floor, even if his leg did go numb for a few seconds. "I'm guessing you guys acting like all she's good for is her pussy made her feel like she needed to see them or something."

"W-We would never-"

"Take her out all the time even though she yelled about not wanting to do it?" Cobra smirked when Erza's lips clamped shut, then he shrugged again. "Maybe I'm wrong. I don't really care either way, but I haven't seen her."

Ah, what a lovely contradiction. Cobra detested liars, yet he was willingly lying for the blonde curled up and hiding in his apartment.

"Well," Erza began, pausing when Cobra spoke again.

"Or maybe Lucy's in my apartment right now," he said, his smile widening when the blonde squeaked and grabbed his pant leg, silently screeching at him to shut up. "She could have finally taken me up on that offer of candy and sweatpants."

"Right," Erza said, her brow lifting. "I will go tell the others that Lucy won't be joining us tonight."

She believed his first story much more than the blonde wanting to actually spend time with him, and that was fine by him. Cobra watched her walk away, grinning to himself. He may have started out lying, but he'd remedied it. And Erza was none the wiser. So, he simply leaned back inside and closed the window, then the drapes.

"What the hell?" Lucy hissed. "What if she'd believed you?"

He scoffed and stood from the window seat, staring down at her. "You've been ignoring me for months," he said. "Why the hell would anyone believe you'd want to actually spend time with me?"

Guilt rippled its way across her features and her eyes lowered to the floor.

"I'm not offended," he chuckled. "I actually don't care." He ignored her while making his way back toward the couch, then plopped down with a soft, contented sigh. When she didn't move, he said, "Go and get comfy. I wasn't kidding about the sweatpants."

"Why?"

"Because it's a requirement," he said. Cobra's head lolled to one side so he could see her and he gestured to himself. "If I'm home, I'm comfortable."

Lucy slowly stood, still clutching her duffel, then looked around the apartment.

"Bathroom," he said, pointing to a door behind the couch, then to another door just beside it. "Bedroom." To the folding door across from the couch, "Laundry." Then to the archway near his front door, "Kitchen. Change wherever you want."

"Why would I change in the kitchen?" she giggled.

"Because you're a damn freak," he said, his eye crinkling with mirth when she laughed again.

"Thanks for this, Cobra." Lucy made her way toward the bedroom, biting her lip while opening the door. She paused in the doorway and looked back to the Poison Slayer, to his maroon spikes and the single pointed ear she could see, then silently smiled when he leaned forward and grabbed a piece of candy from the large bowl on his coffee table. "Really, I appreciate it."

"I understand."

Over the next year, Lucy made a point of sneaking over to Cobra's apartment every time she knew their guildmates were going to try and drag her out somewhere. She still took jobs with Natsu and Happy. Erza had partnered with Wendy after Gray left, but they all occasionally went on missions as a large team.

She never invited Cobra along though, already knowing that he preferred solo work.

But she always enjoyed her time with him. Their secret meetings, eating too much candy which eventually turned into cakes and pies, then whole dinners with dessert afterwards.

At first, it was weird. She didn't know what to do with herself at his apartment that first night. He didn't have a television, which she thought was strange until he explained that he could hardly hear it over the souls around him at any given time so he could never enjoy it.

He had plenty of books though. Some she hadn't read, others that looked like textbooks, and quite a few she had. They didn't really talk about the books either, aside from her asking if she could read one. He'd told her he didn't mind, just as long as she didn't dog-ear the pages.

He didn't talk much. They ate in silence. And, oddly enough, Lucy found it wasn't uncomfortable. She didn't need to chatter away to fill the silence broken up by the crunch of wrappers. She rather enjoyed how he seemed so calm and it filled the space around them with ease.

And Lucy came to appreciate, sometimes even crave, the silence of Cobra's apartment when she sat in the middle of the guild full of noise and so much yelling. Fairy Tail was anything but quiet, after all.

The times she couldn't get away from her friends, when they ambushed her by surprise, Lucy silently pleaded with Cobra to figure out a way for her to get out of it the entire time she was being pushed and pulled while getting ready. They would go by his apartment, and he would sit in the window seat, watching her go by, with the same offer every time that she could join him.

She learned a few things about him during that year though, more than she ever would have if she hadn't spent any time with him.

He slept alone, never offering to share the bed with her when she inadvertently stayed the night, but he also refused to let her sleep on the couch. Or the floor. She slept in his bed, and he slept on the couch. Sometimes, he slept in the window seat. He never explained why he insisted she take his bed.

Cobra never tried to touch her. For anything. If Lucy was in his way, he told her to move. If she was reaching into the bowl for more candy, he waited until her hand was clear before grabbing his own piece. They never sat right next to each other on the couch, normally with him on one end and her on the other with an entire cushion between them.

She found out that Cobra liked sweets, a lot. And that he was a vegetarian. The first time they ate dinner together, it was eggplant lasagna. And when she'd asked why eggplant, he simply said, "I don't like the taste of meat." She never asked why, but she did know that he didn't mind her eating meat around him. When she came over one night and cooked spaghetti for them, and made meatballs for herself on the side, he'd simply bypassed them while dishing up his plate and thanked her for cooking the sauce in a separate pan so he could still have some.

Cobra didn't celebrate holidays. He didn't decorate his apartment for Halloween, and the only reason he handed out candy that year was because Lucy brought the extra gift bags for kids from her apartment and left them outside of his door. The bowl was empty by the end of the night. Christmas was the same with no decorations; and he'd made sure she knew not to try and buy him a present or do any "ridiculous bullshit."

What surprised her the most, however, was that Cobra didn't go to the doctor for anything. He didn't ask Wendy to help him if he was injured from a mission. The night Lucy came over with a cake - she'd found out when leaving the first time, which apartment he lived in and used the door from then on - she'd found the door unlocked as though he'd been waiting for her. She made her way inside, set the cake in the kitchen, then turned to see Cobra lying on the couch with a grimace, shirtless, and swiping a towel across his bleeding stomach while he stitched the long gash closed.

Lucy, of course, had flipped her shit with worry. He'd told her to shut up and have a seat, or get the hell out. He didn't take any medication, nothing to dull the pain. Once he was done with the stitches - and she noticed that they were perfect as though he was a damn surgeon - Cobra taped some gauze over it and cleaned up as though nothing was wrong. She'd stayed quiet about it, silently worrying about him for the rest of the night and noticing every uncomfortable twitch or shift until she left at three in the morning.

He was surprisingly thoughtful though, she found out. Lucy hadn't been running from the women in the guild for a change, and had simply gone to visit him even though her leg was bandaged from the job she and Natsu had gotten back from earlier that day. Cobra took one look at her and ushered her to the bed, forcing her to lie down and rest when he saw that she was a little pale and in pain. He'd brought the candy bowl into the bedroom and sat beside her the whole night, saying nothing aside from asking if she needed a drink. She'd felt his eye following her when she got up to hobble to the bathroom, but he didn't move to help her.

Gray returned to Fairy Tail the on the second anniversary of his divorce with Lucy being finalized, the day of one of Magnolia's few parades. March had just begun and the last of the frost clinging to trees had melted when he arrived, his guild mark still in place. She guessed he'd never really left, just went away for a while. Juvia seemed happy to still be at his side.

Lucy was indifferent, though. She didn't care that he was back. It didn't make her stomach burn with anger or betrayal. He was just another person in the guild now, the same as Reedus or Juvia or Gajeel.

Sadly, only Cobra seemed to know that she didn't care. That she took notice of his presence upon her arrival an hour after him, then shrugged and went on about her day. She wasn't moping while drinking her smoothie, and she didn't turn down the job request Natsu held out to her because she was depressed. In fact, Lucy turned it down because she just didn't want to take a job right then or look like she was hightailing it out of Magnolia since Gray was around.

Mira and Cana, however, started scheming as soon as they noticed that Lucy was staying. And later that night, when they all but kidnapped Lucy from the guild and dragged her to the back, tied her to a chair and got her all dolled up for a night on the town, she finally snapped.

It was one thing to do it because they wanted to have a good time. It was something entirely different when they were making it their mission to get her laid because she was "obviously so miserable without someone" and they "just want to see her happy."

She yelled and screamed and kicked and clawed her way out of their clutches, punching Mira in the throat on accident (really, she hadn't meant to do that), then stormed out of the guild with Cana yelling at her back, "We're just trying to help you get out of your rut, Lu!"

Lucy ignored how she looked - with a crimson halter dress and matching fuck-me pumps - and ignored her apartment entirely, seeking the haven that was the Poison Dragon Slayer's home. She knew he was in town, that he was at home even, because Cobra had stopped at the guild to turn in a mission, then left. They hadn't said a word, but he'd looked at her just long enough for Lucy to know that his window would be open, so to speak.

She stormed down the street and didn't let herself feel a thing until she was standing in front of Cobra's door. She didn't have a key though, so she knocked. When he didn't answer, she tried the handle. Just like usual, it was locked. But she'd seen that his window was open and the lights were on inside. Cobra didn't waste electricity. Maybe he was just in the bathroom or something.

But Lucy didn't feel like standing around. She wasn't going to go outside and deal with people gawking at her while she climbed the building and went through the window. So instead, she put the knowledge she'd gained from one of his books to use, and pulled two bobby pins from her hair then went about bending them and carefully picking the stupid lock. It finally clicked, and he still hadn't come to the door, so Lucy went inside and kicked off her shoes.

The living room was empty. The kitchen lights were off. The candy bowl still sat on the coffee table, its permanent home, with an unopened bag inside of it.

Lucy heard a low thud from the bedroom and turned toward the door to find it partially open and dark beyond. She really didn't try to intrude on Cobra's personal space, but when there was no sound after that, Lucy found herself just a little concerned.

She lightly knocked on his bedroom door, waiting for some response, then carefully pushed it open and peeked inside. A quiet whimper drifted through the air, nearly childlike, and her brows drew together while she walked inside.

He was lying on the bed, on top of the blanket, still wearing his clothes from when he'd been out. His jacket and pants, everything. His eye was screwed shut, almost as though he was in pain, and he'd curled in on himself, knees to his chest and arms tucked around his waist.

"Cobra?" Lucy whispered, walking further into the room. "Hey, are you alright?"

When he didn't answer, she moved closer until she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Lucy gasped when she saw the tissue bunched up in his hand, spotted with blood. Then she noticed the little balled up tissues on the floor and the pillow around him, each decorated with splashes of red.

He didn't seem to realize she was there while tossing the tissue to the floor and grabbing another from what she realized was a box that he cradled against his chest. Cobra swiped at the blood dripping from his nose, his eye clenching more tightly for several seconds as another whimper crept up his throat.

Lucy nibbled her lip with indecision, then slowly placed her hand on his. He didn't react when she took the tissue from him and gently blotted away the next little rivulets that crept from his nostrils. With his hand now free, Lucy carefully laced their fingers together while keeping the tissue pressed to his nose. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, sighing in relief when he squeezed right back with equal pressure.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

Lucy barely heard his reply of, "Uh-uh."

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Cobra whimpered again, and Lucy frowned when she saw the tissue filling more quickly than before. She switched it for another, still watching him, waiting and hoping for an answer. Slowly, his free hand lifted to his forehead, then to his pointed ear before curling around his stomach again.

"Your head," she frowned. "And your ears?" He shook his head, squeezing her hand a little more tightly with a quiet hiss. She saw him pointing to his chest, his ears, his head again. Realization dawned on her a moment later with the whisper of a memory, one that she hadn't thought much of before.

"Hearing too many souls at once sucks ass," Cobra said to the blonde around a mouthful of strawberry cheesecake. "Shove a beehive in your skull and it'll still be quieter."

"Souls?" Lucy finally whispered, sighing when he nodded quickly. "Would it be better if I left?" She really didn't want to leave. Maybe it was selfish, but Lucy didn't want to be alone while thinking about what had happened at the guild. She didn't want anyone knowing where she was. And being at Cobra's… he gave her a place where she could just think and be by herself, while still having someone at least present. It was weird, but she loved it.

And she especially didn't want to leave if he needed help.

But when he didn't give her a response, Lucy decided she needed to think about him. What he really needed. And that most likely wasn't yet another soul to listen to. She started to let go of his hand, then paused when he held on tighter.

"Please," Cobra whimpered between tightly clenched teeth, "Don't go…"

"Wouldn't it be better if-"

"No…" His eye slowly opened, showing her tears of pain sitting on his lashes. "I don't wanna be alone."

"Well, should I-"

"Don't let go," he said, his single eye pleading as his grip tightened marginally. "Lemme focus on you."

Lucy bit her lip, settling herself more comfortably by his side. She switched the tissue out again, absentmindedly running her thumb over Cobra's as he blinked and watched her. She used another tissue to dry his eye, smiling when his brow furrowed for a moment.

They didn't speak after that. She simply stayed beside him until the pain subsided, holding his hand and keeping his nose from dripping onto the bed for another two hours.

And when Cobra finally found the will to sit up, their hands were still clasped on the bed between them. He gazed at her for several moments, then slowly leaned forward and wrapped an arm around her and laid his head on her shoulder.

"Thank you," he whispered. She could hear the deep gratitude in his quiet voice, unaware of how Cobra smiled when she didn't hug him back but lightly squeezed his hand instead. "You can wear some of my shit tonight, since I don't think you have any spare clothes."

"The dress code still stands, huh?" she smirked.

"Yes, and you're way overdressed."

The two mages changed in separate rooms then met at the couch and started eating candy together. And when Cobra's head started throbbing again, Lucy found him lightly threading his fingers through hers and taking slow, deep breaths.

She found she didn't mind it all that much when he held her hand.

Four months passed before Lucy felt Cobra's hand against hers again. It was only his fingers, and just long enough for him to press something small into her palm, then it was gone and he went right back to reading his book while she sat down on the couch and got comfortable.

Lucy opened her hand, looking down at what he'd given her, and blinked at the sight of a small silver key.

"Not as special as a spirit," Cobra said, his eye still running across the text on the page. "But happy birthday all the same."

"Is this…"

"No more breaking in with bobby pins," he chuckled. "You can have a key."

Lucy blushed and connected it to her smaller key ring - the one specifically for her own house key and mailbox key - and silently thanked him. She reached toward the box on the table, smiling while she cut two slices of carrot cake and put them on paper plates. She pushed one across the table toward Cobra, then sat back and enjoyed the sweet treat that he'd provided.

Lucy hadn't known that Cobra knew when her birthday was. And she didn't find out for quite some time that he'd baked the cake himself, specifically for her birthday.

"Cobra, have you seen Luce?"

The Poison Slayer frowned and stuck his head out of his window to see Natsu standing on the ground below his apartment, early morning fog still rolling on the ground at his feet. "Why?"

"She's not at home," he shrugged. "I was gonna see if she wanted to go fishing with me and Happy."

Cobra blinked slowly, then turned a surprised eye toward the blonde when she came to kneel on the window seat beside him, then stuck her head out the window.

"No thanks, Natsu. You know I don't really enjoy fishing," she said with a smile. "You should ask Gray though. You guys used to fish together a lot."

Cobra winced when he heard the confusion in Natsu's soul, but Natsu didn't let on in the slightest. That must have been yet another lie that Gray had told her all those years ago. Instead Natsu just pursed his lips in mock thought.

"Maybe," he said, not sounding convinced. It was no secret that the rivalry between Natsu and Gray had gotten just a little more menacing since the Ice Make mage's cheating was uncovered. Natsu really didn't like that Lucy had been put through that.

"Or… Oh!" Lucy's smile widened. "I heard Laxus telling Mira yesterday that Gramps is back in town. Why don't you invite him to go along for a nice, relaxing fishing trip?"

"Gramps is back?!"

Lucy nodded happily and waved as Natsu dashed away with a whoop and an extra pep in his step. She turned toward Cobra to find him watching her with some expression she couldn't name. "What?"

"He knew you were here."

"Of course," she shrugged. "If I didn't tell him where I disappear to, he would have just followed me."

"And he has no problem with it?"

"No," Lucy said. "I told him not to bother you about me coming over, and not to let anyone know."

"And his cat?" Cobra smirked.

"I explained to Happy why I started coming over, to keep the girls off my back." A slow smile curled Lucy's lips. "Turns out, if I cry, Happy kinda turns to mush and agrees to anything."

"Oh, you're fucking evil," Cobra chuckled. He turned when Lucy winked and slid from the seat, walking back toward the bedroom. "Going back to sleep?"

"Maybe." Lucy paused at the door, looking back toward him. "You can come join me though. I don't mind." And then she disappeared into the room.

Cobra frowned and adjusted the blanket he'd been using to keep warm while sleeping by the window. That was definitely a first. But she was sincere in her offer, and there was no pressure from her for him to follow to the room. Unlike the blonde, though, Cobra didn't need multiple invitations to do something he wanted deep down. Just the one was enough.

He could have gone back to sleep at the window, but it wasn't nearly as comfortable as his bed. And not nearly as warm. Slowly, he uncurled from his spot and closed the window, then made his way to the bedroom.

"You came," Lucy whispered, smiling where she was curled up beneath the blanket on one side of the bed.

Cobra said nothing, but pulled back the blanket and crawled into the bed with her. They didn't curl up together or snuggle or anything else as the two mages fell asleep once again. It wasn't until he woke up hours later that Cobra realized they were holding hands beneath the blanket, their fingers loose and intertwined. Lucy slept on, unaware of his content smile and how he held her hand just a little more closely as he drifted off to sleep again.

"You know what sucks?" Lucy sighed.

"Hm?"

"I'm doomed to never have sex again."

"Why?" Cobra frowned at the Jenga puzzle as Lucy pulled out the center piece on the bottom layer. "Bitch."

She giggled, setting it in the center space on the top. "I only had sex with Gray," she said, "And we all know how that turned out."

"Uh-huh."

"I know he and Juvia have no issues in the bedroom," she said. "The girls talk at the guild."

"I know. Trust me, do I ever fucking know."

She shook her head, searching for the best piece to take during her turn. "Which means it's something wrong with me."

"There's nothing wrong with you," Cobra said. He placed his piece on top. "He probably just wasn't doing it for you."

"Have you ever had that problem?"

"Worse," he smirked, gaining her attention. "I've gone soft during sex. Really good sex."

"Why?"

"Same reason you don't get off," he shrugged. Lucy stared at him intently, but he wasn't embarrassed by it. They'd spent the better part of two years in each other's company. Down to the day, actually. He'd even made a point of stopping by her apartment the day before to invite her over properly for Valentine's day. After so much time together, he really didn't have an issue with talking about himself a little now and then. They had just never talked about anything like this before.

"Which is?"

"You don't like being touched." He waited while she took her turn, both of them pausing to see if the tower would tumble. "I don't want people in my bubble," he continued while deciding which piece to take, "Sex kinda works against that."

"I'd say so," she muttered. "But it's fine when I masturbate…"

"Because it's you doing it. You know what you like and when to change it up."

"Gray seemed to," she said.

"Not well enough." Cobra frowned, peering around the Jenga pieces to look at Lucy's downcast eyes. "You are aware that some women need more than a little foreplay to get going, right?" Her blush deepened and he blinked slowly, watching her, listening to the way her soul dimmed just a little. "And some just don't like foreplay at all."

"Gray never really got into foreplay," she shrugged. "He did a little, but then it was just sex."

Cobra nodded, returning his attention to the game. "Well, when you're doing it, what do you do?"

"... Really, Cobra?"

"It's not like I'm gonna jerk it over what you tell me," he laughed.

"I don't know," she sighed. The next piece she pulled out had the tower wobbling ominously, and she waited a full breath before it settled and she placed the piece. "I just do it."

"Do you tease yourself?" he asked.

She stared at Cobra when he sat up on his knees and leaned around the side of the tower. "As in…"

"Your tits, stomach, behind your fucking knees," he said, focused on the wood pieces. "Do you rub anything that's not your crotch?"

"No?"

"Do finger yourself or just rub your clit?"

God, he sounded like a doctor or someone asking survey questions. "Usually just my clit," she said, shifting slightly. "Maybe a finger or two."

"Do you talk dirty to yourself?"

"What? No! Dirty talk is just weird. Honestly, I don't know why people think it's sexy."

"Mmkay," he said, sitting back and pulling a piece from the center. He cursed when the pieces clattered to the table, glaring at the blonde when she giggled. "Yeah, yeah. You win again."

"I'm the Jenga Master!"

Cobra chuckled and shook his head while they put the pieces back in the box. "You're a dick is what you are."

"Why's that?"

"Because I can't use your soul against you in this game." He wouldn't admit that he was most likely pouting. "It's not fair."

"Aww, poor Coby-butt," Lucy crooned. "Can't cheat for a change."

"It's not cheating if I'm just using my skills to my advantage," he shot back.

The blonde laughed again, reaching across the table and smiling a little wider when his hand naturally lifted and rested in her palm. "So what about you?" she asked. "Why does sex suck for you?"

"I told you," he said. "I don't like people touching me, in my fucking bubble."

"I'm in your bubble," she countered.

"Yeah, but you know how to touch me." Cobra couldn't stop himself from laughing when Lucy choked at the double meaning. "I mean like this," he said, squeezing her hand.

"Well, I'm just hopeless," she said, rolling her eyes. "No man will ever get me off. It'll just be me and my fingers until I'm dead."

"Well, you've got nice fingers at least," he chuckled.

"Gee, thanks."

It was hours later, after they'd eaten a broccoli and quinoa casserole that Lucy had tried making for dinner when she found a book of vegetarian recipes, that Cobra and Lucy ended up curled up on the couch and drinking steaming mugs of hot cocoa full of marshmallows. Except, instead of being on opposite ends, they were next to each other and Lucy's head rested on his shoulder.

It wasn't often that they had more contact than just their hands, but ever since the new year had begun, both had felt a slight shift in what they were.

"Wanna try an experiment?" Lucy whispered, staring down at the melting marshmallows in her cocoa.

"You sure?" Lucy nodded, and Cobra leaned forward and set his mug on the table as she did the same. "Alright."

"It won't be weird?"

"Might be," he said, smiling when he saw the tension in her shoulders. "It won't change shit though."

"Promise?"

"Yep," he grinned.

Moments later, only after she had turned to fully face him and licked her lips a couple times to get rid of her nerves, Cobra felt her soft lips pressing against his. He felt each unsure tremor running through her, heard how she questioned everything she did, whether he could taste the dinner they'd eaten or if it made her breath stink. Whether he liked it at all, or if he was just humoring her.

His hand lifted and curved around the back of her neck, sifting through her golden hair, and he felt her quiet hum against his lips as he slowly deepened the kiss. Just his lips on hers, moving slowly, taking their time to feel the other out.

And all the while, Lucy's insecurity swelled until Cobra was drawing back to find her timid honey eyes averted.

"U-Um…"

That was her problem, then. He wasn't really sure why he'd never picked up on it, that knotted, gnarled mess in the center of her soul that he could hear so clearly now. But Lucy had one hell of an inferiority complex and that shit worked against her at every turn when it came to being with someone.

"Lucy," Cobra whispered, "Look at me." He waited, no matter how long it took, for her to lift her gaze to his face again. "Tell me something, alright?"

She nodded.

"When you look at me, what do you see?"

"Cobra," she said instantly.

"And what does that mean? Who's Cobra to you?"

She frowned slightly. "Um… I don't know." Did they really need to define just what they were to each other? That was one of the things she enjoyed about being with him. There wasn't any need for it. They both just understood it and that was all they needed.

"Okay," he chuckled. "Different approach. When you think about me, do you think about the man who tried to kill you?"

"No," she scowled.

"What about the man who was in prison for half his life?"

"No."

"Or do you think about… spending time with me, here, just sitting around and being comfortable together?"

Lucy considered it, then slowly nodded. "And how you're quiet in the best way possible," she added.

"Do you know what I think about with you?" he asked. She shook her head, and his nose gently brushed against hers. "The same thing. That I'm comfortable with you, that you understand I've got boundaries, and you never push… Even when it's to your detriment."

"Okay?"

"So, if I kiss you now," Cobra said, shifting just a little closer and letting his lips brush against hers, "Will you think about the fact that you make me feel comfortable?"

"Uh… I guess?" She squeaked when he kissed her again, feeling his thumb gently trailing across her jaw.

"You taste so sweet," he whispered against her lips before kissing her once more. Still only his lips on hers. But he could taste her as he lightly nibbled on her lower lip, pulling a quivering whimper from the blonde.

And as they kept kissing, Cobra also heard the faintest sigh in her soul. He could feel that knotted tangle of insecurity unraveling the tiniest bit from just a single comment. It made him curious about what else would help her be more comfortable in her own skin, even as her trembling tongue brushed across his lips.

She might have been worried, but it didn't stop her from taking the initiative to taste him. He'd given her just a little bit of confidence, and she'd latched onto it as though it was the only thing keeping her breathing.

When they broke for air, he licked his lips and smiled down at her. "Lucy," he whispered, "Don't make me stop kissing you right now."

"Wh-What?" she sputtered. "Why?"

"Because I've got an addictive personality," he chuckled. "Seriously, your mouth tastes like pure fucking sugar."

Her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red and her hands fidgeted in her lap. Still, Lucy nodded, nibbling her lip as he reached out and took her hands with his free one.

"You know how much I like sugar," Cobra smirked, drawing her closer.

"I do," she said.

"Just kissing," he whispered. "Just let me taste you." And when Lucy nodded again, though timid and still so unsure of herself, he closed the distance between them and kissed the blonde with not a care in the world aside from tasting the sugar on her lips and tongue. And when her hands shifted to gently toy with his fingers, and she sighed happily into his kiss, Cobra fought back a smile.